Monday, January 17, 2011

If you know much about me, you know that I'm cheap. Maybe frugal's a better word... but whatever you call me, it means the same. Part of me being frugal means that I buy my kid's clothes a year ahead of time when they're on clearance. I aim to get things 75% off or better. I don't like to pay more than $2 for t-shirts, or more than $4 for jeans. $5 an item it about where I put my cap for kid's clothes, and if its $5, it'd better be a darn good item. Like this adorable dress that I found in store for $5 today...

Old Navy runs a great sale this time of year where I buy a lot of my kid's stuff for next year... so does Target, since they reset kids & baby stuff in January so if you can be patient enough, you'll find 75% off markdowns. But this is really all background information.

While shopping Old Navy clearance, I found this little skirt...

Cute, right? Allison loved it too, so I bought it. And this weekend, as I was going through my purchases trying to make sense of what I over-bought (and need to return) and what I still need, I realized that I don't have a shirt to go with this cute skirt. Or the cute little silver one I found at the Carters Outlet. So I start thinking... what would I like to go with it and I come up with an idea of what I want for this skirt: a cute little white (winter white, I think) button up shirt, out of a satiny fabric... or maybe a shantung... either mandarin or classic collar, with puff sleeves and some pink ribbon rosettes on the upper chest one one side.

Can you see it? Yeah... so can I. And now that I have in my head what I want, its what I want. And, I'm more than certain, it doesn't exist. And certainly not at a price I want to pay.

THATS the problem with knowing how to sew. It gets you in trouble and you start thinking about what is possible, and perfect, instead of just shopping for something that exists and would work. So now, I have to make it. Sewing and I have been a little at odds for a few years now... so I'm not sure how this will work out. Maybe it will be good for me. Luckily, I was able to find a toddler girls button-up pattern. I was pretty afraid that those wouldn't exist either.

Oh, and the other problem with knowing how to sew? Fabric starts speaking to you. Wanna know what this piece said?

"Look at me! Wouldn't I be an adoroable little dress or jumper for Allison? And I'm on super sale... only $2.50 a yard! You know you want me... I'm even pretty Easter colors!"

It bewitched me... so now a dress/jumper is on my list too... as if I didn't have enough on that list already. :)

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

I don't want to say that 2010 was hard, because a lot of great things happened in 2010. Brian started a great job. We bought a house that we (mostly) love (and have been slowing changing the things we don't love). We made some really great new friends. We did not get pregnant (which, if you ask me, was really great).

But I struggled to adjust to our new life some. And most of my stuggle really came from organization, which is weird becuase I love organization. But I have spent a year lacking in the organization of my time. I wasted too much of it, and then was upset that I got nothing that needed to be done done and then never had time for things I wanted to do.

So... here are the goals that I hope to work on and reach during 2011, and how I plan to do it too.

1) Get Healthier and take care of myself.

Cliche, I know. But I need it. I recently noticed that I don't take great care of myself. I don't eat well, I don't sleep enough, I don't exercise much, I don't drink enough water. It leaves me cranky and tired. And I think my my husband derserves a wife who is not cranky all the time, and my kis derserve a mommy who isn't too tired to play nicely with them. So in that vein,

*I'd really like to lose 15 pounds. That would put be back to my weigh before Carter (who is almost 2... I think I've been putting this off long enough!)

*I want to get to the gym at least 3 times a week... not only for the exercise, but for the stress relief too.

*I NEED to get more sleep. Which isn't working out so well for me so far, but here's hoping...

*I need to eat nutritious meals. Less sugar, more vegetables and lean protien.

Every day after dinner Brian and I immediately put the leftovers away, do the dishes (all the way down to an empty sink), wipe down the counters and sweep the kitchen floor. In the mornings, the dish washer gets emptied and (shock!) I fill it with dishes as the day goes. Having the kitchen never be a horrible mess (even though its not always CLEAN) is a huge stress reliever for me. Before bed, I also try to make sure I've removed any leftover kids toys from the living room and returned them to the playroom, so that the house is generally tidy when we go to bed Most days I could really care less if the playroom is messy... its the playroom! But we do try to have the kids pick up after themselves... a total work in progress... and Brian and I "reset" it about weekly. The rest of my week's chores looks a little like this:

On my Thursday zone cleaning days, I detail clean a specific zone of my house... I chose 4 zones: 1)Kitchen & Dining room, 2) Master bed & bath 3)Kid's beds, bath & playroom 4)Living room, entrance, laundry area & 1/2 bath. 4 zones means that onces a month every area in my house gets a detailed clean beyond the daily wiping up. And it also means that I only have to spend a few hours (it took me less than 2 last week to do the master bed & bath... and that bathroom was in desperate need of cleaning!) every week doing any real cleaning.

So far, I like it. It structures my days and my weeks, but no one daily chore takes me so long that I can't fit other things into my day too. I try to do my daily chores either while Allison is at preschool (like the grocery shopping... so much easier with 1 kid!) or while Carter is napping. And since my chores don't consume my whole day, theres still time to take the kids on kid-centric outings and to just play together too. The think I struggle most to force myself to do: fold the laundry the day I do it. I just hate folding laundry...

3) Improve my scripture study

I suppose I should mention that these are not in order of importance... definantly random order. I recently got released from Primary in my ward, which I'm very okay with. I'm excited to be in Gospel Doctrine again (for the first time in two years I can listen to lessons without a child!). I'd really like to get as much out of it as possible. So, in addition to *trying* to get my daily Book of Mormon reading in (I try... some mornings it just doesn't happen, and if I don't do it before I hit the shower the chances of it happening are so slim...), I want to read the chapters for the upcoming Gospel Doctrine lesson. So far, 2 weeks in, this hasn't happened at all. But hopefully this week. My thin excuse for last week is that I was teaching Relief Society (a calling I think I would really love), so my extra time went into that...

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

As heard in the car (imagine it in toddler gibberishy speak, because its cuter)...

Carter: I like my sunglasses

Me: You like your sunglesses, buddy?

Carter: Yeah. They're so cool.

As heard (and seen) at home after Allison came out of the bathroom...

Allison: Well Mom, what do you think?

Me: What do I think about what... your hair? Did you put hairspray in it?

Allison: Yes... and I cut it!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I know every mom of a toddler girl goes through this, but NOOOO!!!!!! Luckily, I don't think its too bad. She missed a few key strands that would have made this unfixable except for a pixie cut. I think, as is, I can just hide it... What do you think... can you see it?

How about from the side? I have the "thank-goodness-she-didn't-get-this-one" chunk pulled back a little...

and here you can REALLY see what she did...

I think, if I keep her hair tucked behind her ear with a clip in it that we can hide it until it grows out. I supposed its a good sign that I didn't notice her self-cut right away...